468 P.IMXnU'lY's DEATH- CHARACTERISTICS. 



course of time, the liking ripened into an attachment ; 



and shortly after tlie girl had left school, at the age of 

 only nineteen, Brindley proposed to her. and was ac- 

 cepted. By tin's time lie was close upon his fiftieth year, 

 so that the union may possibly have heen quite as much 

 a matter of convenience as of love on his part. He had 

 now left the Duke's service for the purpose of entering 

 upon the construction of the Grand Trunk Canal, and 

 witli that object resolved to transfer his home to the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Harecastlc, as we'll as of 

 his colliery at Golden Hill. Shortly after the marriage 1 , 

 the old mansion of Turnhurst fell vacant, and Brindley 

 became its tenant, with his young wife. The marriage 

 took place on the 8th December, 1765, in the parish 

 church of TTolstanton, Brindley being described in the 

 register as "of the parish of Leek, engineer ;" but from 

 that time until the date of his death his home was at 

 Turnhurst. 



The house at Turnhurst was a comfortable, roomy, old- 

 fashioned dwelling, with a garden and pleasure-ground 

 behind, and a little lake in front. It was formerly the 

 residence of the Bellot family, arid is said to have been 

 the last house in England in which a family fool was 

 maintained. Sir Thomas Bellot, the last of the name, 

 was a keen sportsman, and the panels of several of ihc 

 upper rooms contain pictorial records of some of his 

 exploits in the field. In this way Sir Thomas seems to 

 have befooled his estate, and it shortly after became the 

 property of the Alsager family, from whom Brindley 

 rented it. A little summer-house, standing at the corner 

 of the outer courtyard, is still pointed out as Brindley's 

 office, where he sketched his plans and prepared his 

 calculations. As for his correspondence, it was nearly 

 all conducted, subsequent to his marriage, by his wife, 

 who, notwithstanding her youth, proved a most clever, 

 useful, and affectionate partner. 



Turnhurst was conveniently near to the works then 



